1891.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 137 



Smith in his plates of genitalia as the female of this species, is 

 that of nova Smith; thatoffmtema is still unfigured. The pubic 

 process might be likened to a miniature spoon truncated near the 

 tip with the handle much curved and shortly furcate at the end. 



-o- 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY. 



The young of butterflies and moths are called caterpillars, larvae 

 or worms. Lepidopterous insects can only be said to grow in 

 the caterpillar condition, and little butterflies never grow to be 

 big ones, as is popularly supposed. When the young caterpillar 

 has matured in the egg it eats its way through the shell and de- 

 vours more or less of the remaining shell; some species eat a hole 

 only large enough to let them out, and others nearly the entire 

 shell.. . Some are very slow in eating their way out, sometimes 

 occupying a day or two, as in some of the Hesperidae. The 

 newly-born caterpillar varies in size from a very minute object to 

 about one-quarter inch in length, according to the size of the 

 species. They are very voracious, and grow rapidly, changing 

 their skins or moulting to accommodate their increase in size. 

 They are elongated, cylindrical, worm-like; some are naked and 

 others covered with hair. They are separable into thirteen joints 

 or segments, including the head. They have three pairs of short 

 legs, a pair on the second, third and fourth segments respectively, 

 and on joints seven, eight, nine, ten and thirteen have each a 

 pair of membranous legs armed with a circle of minute hooks 

 which enables them to hold on to objects. In certain large spe- 

 cies these are wrapped entirely around a small twig or branch of 

 the tree on which they feed. These last legs disappear when the 

 larva changes to a chrysalis. They breathe by means ot stigmata 

 or spiracles, which are breathing holes situated on each side of 

 the body, which communicate with the respiratory system. When, 

 after feeding some days, the larva gets too big for his skin he 

 seeks a convenient place and spins a little web, in which he en- 

 tangles his feet and remains quiet for a short period, and then 

 crawls out of the old skin and has an entirely new suit of clothes, 

 often varying greatly from the old one. This he does a varying 

 number of times according to the species, but it is usually four 

 or five, but may be as high as ten. Some of the species of I\im- 



